IN PRAISE OF SRILA PRABHUPADA – ESSAY 2: December 1, 2024
- Siksastakam Dasa
As Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur put it, a Vaisnava never dies, he is forever present in sound. Hence, in the absence of an acarya’s physical presence, his faithful followers cling to his vani - the instructions the revered Vaisnava left behind. The principle, here, is that the pure devotees are strictly expressing themselves according to siddhanta, the philosophical conclusions of their predecessors and ultimately Sri Krishna Himself. Therefore, whatever sound emanates from their lotus mouth is eternal, ever-fresh, always relevant and as vibrant when it is repeated by their followers, as when they had originally spoken it.
As members of Srila Prabhupada’s movement, we are very fortunate that our Founder Acarya did not only leave us with volumes of sound in the form of lectures and other recordings, but also worked tirelessly on penning down everything we need to know in his Bhaktivedanta purports. These elaborations on the most prominent verses of the Gaudiya Vaisnava literature are the epiphany of realized transcendental knowledge and can consequently guide us to the ultimate destination of life. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly pointed out how these books are not ordinary; they carry the potency of Krishna and his pure devotees. This spiritual potency is there in every word of these literature. Therefore, they can connect each and every one of us to Krishna directly, or in the words of the author himself: “If he reads one sloka, his life will be success. If he reads one sloka, one word.” (Srimad Bhagavatam lecture in LA, 5.1.1974). That is the effect of transcendentally charged sound vibration in the form of the written word.
We all have this practical experience, as most of us either joined ISKCON by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books or then became convinced later on to stay in ISKCON through the power of these books. As Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita, 4.38: “In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge.” In other words, to come in contact with transcendental knowledge reverberating from each and every sloka of the bhakti sastras – is the supreme success.
Being the senapati sent by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Himself, to disseminate this transcendental sound vibration in the western world, Srila Prabhupada based his whole mission on writing, printing and then distributing books. In the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 10.2.37, His Divine Grace writes:
“The word kriyāsu, meaning ‘by manual labor’ or ‘by work,’ is important in this verse. One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, all our activities are concentrated upon distributing Kṛṣṇa literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Kṛṣṇa literature so that in the future he also may become a devotee.”
In the upcoming month of December, the devotees worldwide try to make an extra effort in following this specific instruction of Srila Prabhupada, of distributing Krishna-literature. It is very simple: whomever you meet, whomever you speak to, tell them about Srila Prabhupada’s books!
This does not only benefit others but also the distributors. They have to get out of their comfort zone, find ways of making these gems of transcendental wisdom relevant to people who might have no interest in the Absolute Truth at all, learn to be humble and meek, expecting no respect but at the same time giving respect to one and all, learning to relate and be personal to all kinds of people. This transcendental book distribution is an unlimited playground to practically apply what we hear about so often: surrender to Krishna, developing compassion, becoming a true servant of Krishna and all His beloved souls.
We are forever indebted to Srila Prabhupada for so mercifully giving us this unique activity that lets us tap into the mood of the pure devotees of the Lord who are all about sharing the Lord’s glories and His mercy with the world. The glimpses of spiritual ecstasy or transcendental samadhi or even ‘intoxication’ - as His Divine Grace referred to the experience of book distribution on different occasions - are second to none in comparison.
Every book distributor will attest to the fact that even today, on these streets of the material world, each of us can have direct darshan of Srila Prabhupada and get all his blessings to go back home, back to Godhead. Let us spread his transcendental sound vibration all over the three worlds! Ebe yasa ghusuk tribhuvana!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental book distribution ki jaya !
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